gonH i h
byMICHA
CHILLICUTI'
Mulh,on Co",spoNl.nt
Ju t ix month ago. JoAnn
Robert w ppointed su­
perintendent of Muskegon'
Height Publ ic Schools. Now
six months later, he ha be­
come the t rget of thre t and
an attempted fire bombing at
her home.
Robert ha vowed to
repair the Muskegon Height
School sy tem, which she s Id
I. In "ruin ." She blamed the
recent thre t nd violent ac­
tion on politician nd
Ichool official who have
profited from "Corrupt ac­
tivities" within the chool
ystern.
v
u
Recent aHe ations of cor­
ruption in the chool y tern
include:
• Improper hiring of known
criminal .
• Hi ri
employee
proper
without
of ome
ithout filing
plication and
Howing proper pro-
cedures.
• School offici I working
and bein paid for unlimited
amounts of overtime, some­
time c l iming to have
worked nearly three time
more than their normal hours.
• Unmonitored pending of
school fund and chool
vehicle regul y tieing u ed
by chool official for per­
sonal use.
up rint ndant
• For 16 ye r chool offi­
ci I didn't punch in, they
wrote their own time.
• School officials paid
when le ving to go to eroblc
cour e nd hopping trip .
SAID ROBERT, "An or­
ganization cannot function in
'chao. You hired me to be a
leader nd an educator. But
now it's time for me to tell the
tory. The political ba e ha
moved from Ci ty Hall to your
chool sy tern."
At recent rally held in the
Muskegon Heights School
Auditorium, 600 community
supporters hailed Roberts as
the epitome of Martin Luther
King's Dream.
ttack d
Mu kegon Height Mayor
Robert Warren, now sist nt
superintendent for instruc­
tion, aid the community
need to t nd behind Robert
and help "de troy" the di rup­
rive force re pon ible for the
recent bombing." The mayor
as ured Robert that she will
have full po lice p rotec t io n
and community upport.
The Rev. Charles Fox, a
pa tor at Phillip Chapel
A.M.E., compared the recent
bombing as an example of
Afric n-Ame r lc a ns e tt i ng
their own civil right move­
ment back more t an 20 year .
Fox remember the bombing
of Black Churche during the
Continued 0 PeS
n
ConwspotUknt
DETROIT - Addre ing a
co. munity forum and
strategy session, ponsored
by Unemployed and
Employed Wotters of
MiChigan, a coalition of or­
ganization concerned with
social se r v i c e cuts. State
Senator Jackie Vaughn
warned that Governor John
Engler's plans Cor mere dras­
tic cuts during the next fi�cal
Member of the Association of Community Oraanizations for
Reform Now, protest budget cuts Implemented by Governor
Enller, and calli for hi recall, d�rlna a r lIy In front of the
State Plaza Bulldl�11 t Wedne day. (Photo by D. Lewis)
year has p ssed the state
senate and is now before the
Michigan Hou e of Re p r c-
entatives.
Among the governor'
propo al is the total elimi na­
tion of Gener I As istancc
and the Job Start benefits for
thos e without handicap,
leaving thousands of people
without any tate aid.
Whilc the governor'
proposals were likely to meet
resistance in the Democratic
controlled house, Vaughn
warned that man stated rep­
resentatives might back down
in the face of pre sure, allow­
ing the cuts to go through.
Va u z h noted that sev n
De c r a t i c u tate cnator
broke ranks with their party
and s uppo rted the gove rnor in
the state senate vote.
CITIZENS WERE. urged
by Vaughn and other speakers
to send letters to their repre­
sentatives and Majority
- Leader Lewis N. Dodak, a
king t he m to oppo e these
cuts to the end. All state rep­
re entatives can be reached
by w r i t i ng them at the
Mi c h i g a n Hou e of Repre­
sentatives. Lansing. Michigan
48909. '
"Let them know about
people in the State of
Michigan who are uffering,"
Vaughn said'. "Te l l them to
make sure it doe nt pa the
Mic hi g an Hou e. Let them
know that under no cir­
cumstances will you accept
Continued on Pa e!
chool
by LEAH A. SAMUEL
Corre pondent
LOS ANGELES - The call
for multicultural education
has prompted chool system
acro the country to respond
to what has been called "the
browning of America." As
people of African, Asian,
Hispanic, Arab and Native
American de cent make up
increasing percentage of the
general population, educators
are revamping curricula and
program currently based on
w hi te European culture.
"It" not a melting pot,"
says Brenda Steppes. "It's a '
salad of many fl vors." Step­
pe is the principal at Han-
L-r NAACP Executive Director Jo
dent rt ur Joh 0, a d AAC
Ch Arm n Melvin -Butch- Jo
conference. (Photo by D. Le
State joins NAACP suit
vs. insurance industry
t'"
dants have dr wn and
regrouped the e African­
American neighborhoods and
separ ted them from similarly
situated Cauca i n neighbor­
hoods b ed up�n their ubjec-
Continued 0 Pa e 5
State Attorney General
Frank Kelly announced his
support for an NAACP uit
which alledges tbat car in­
surance companie are di -
criminating g in the people
of Detroit, during a new con­
ference 1 � Mond y.
The ui .
_"'�_L_g�'.'''lt��� ... �.����,J.!�;���=����;�������?)�::;';��.���,��.,!ob"'�� 9 .. ' ... • .. �' .. '::...-.
::.; t e Oetroi A to Int er -Jn-
sur ance Exchange, and the
, Auto Club Insurance Associa­
tion (AAA) claims the defen­
dants h ve set higher rates and
premiums for people living in
Detroit than for those living in
immediate surrounding areas.
Kelly, in his brief filed last
Monday in Wayne County Cir­
cuit Cou�t, argues, - ... Defen-
by DERRIC C. LEWIS
Staff tyriter
addr
diver
cock Elementary School,
where the student population
i 22 percent A ian, 18 per­
cent Black, 20 p e c e n t
Hispanic and 40 percent
White. At Hancock, teacher
and tudent alike work to in­
sure that all culture 'are rep-
, resented j n vari ou aspect of
school activi ty.
Yet while Hancock. and
other schools like it, attempt
to better represent c u lt ur a l
diversity. the debate over the
scope of multicultural educa­
tion continue to divide educ­
cators and lawmakers.
Those in favor of diversity
in chool curricula say thai it
would better prepare tudents
for life in a diverse world, a
well as in till cultural prid
and m o\t iva t ion to lear n .
"When student know more
about their own culture, it
motivate them," ai Carolyn
W II ce, a poke worm n for
the National Education As­
sociation.
C R I I S J4: PRE S the
fear that multicultural Ie rn­
ing will saturate and dilutc
educational programs, frag­
menting American culture and
further dividing the race.
Stcven Balch of the N tional
A sociation of Scholars �y
that multicultural education
would be Off-target becau e
most influential ideas are
Co tI ued on Pa s
IDELLA CARTE : "Yes,
that's the way policemen are,
it happened there, it can hap­
pen here."
ALVI SMALLEY:
been happening here long
before it was publicized in
L.A."
OLAND WAT : "Yea,
it could happen. It's happened
before. I llad friend, who the
police mistook for omeone
el e, and they hit him a couple
of times with nightstick."
SHELLYW IGHA : "Ye "
because it ha . I know some­
one who h s been beaten by the
police before: There are a lot
of police officers who h ve
beat young Black guy, judging
book by its cover."
JE
don't think so, a far al n
identical incident. Police here
are bad, but not like they were
. in the 60' , especially DOW tb t
we h ve a mixed police force.
Still, there i some brut lily in
Detroit."
•